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To: JMD who wrote (19896)	12/16/1998 9:09:00 PM
From: Ruffian	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 152472

More Ericy Spin> Row won't delay Ericsson's wideband CDMA The Dominion THE argument between the United States and Europe over the next generation of cellular phone networks will not derail the development of new systems backed by Ericsson Radio Systems, says business development director Gunnar Blockmar. Stockholm-based Mr Blockmar, responsible for the Swedish telecommunications equipment maker's work in third generation mobile systems, visited Wellington recently as part of a world tour, demonstrating new cellular network technologies which will become available from 2001. He says the current arguments over rival standards between United States and European equipment makers will not hinder development of the wideband CDMA system backed by Ericsson. Ericsson, along with Finnish maker [ Nokia ] and others, are part of a group known as the 3G alliance which is backing the wideband CDMA standard. A rival group, led by California's Qualcomm, is backing the CDMA2000 built around United States technology. The International Telecommunications Union is currently reviewing 15 proposals it has received for IMT-2000, the international mobile telecommunications standard for the next century, and will decide later this year on proposals. Mr Blockmar says he is surprised at the behaviour of Americans, who are making statements to the effect that the Europeans are attempting to impose their new mobile telephone system on the United States and the world. Most recently, Reed Hunt, the former chair of the Federal Communications Commission, waded into the debate, charging the Europeans with excluding United States technology in order to aid European equipment makers. Mr Blockmar says no European Union government dictates technology requirements. "Americans seem to think that their technology has been excluded from Europe, but American companies backed our standard during this debate at ETSI (European Technical Standards Institute) in January, and backed the decision to propose WCDMA to the ITU." Now, however, American equipment makers, led by California's Qualcomm, are currently calling for a harmonised standard that merges Wideband CDMA and IS-95. Mr Blockmar says it is likely that the ITU will approve multiple standards for next generation cellular networks, thereby bypassing the debate. And Ericsson's worldphone, which runs on multiple networks, will allow customers to roam worldwide, he says. "We don't have a problem with multiple standards." However, at stake for network equipment makers is a share of the US$500 billion (NZ$943 billion) content market, as among the scenarios possible with the third generation of cellular phones is the ability to send video footage over the Internet from your cellphone. Wideband-CDMA systems currently being developed by Ericsson, work in the two-gigahertz radio spectrum and promises data rates of up to two megabits per second when standing still, and 141 kilobits per second while travelling at 100 kilometres per hour. Mr Blockmar says simulations show that the system can be overlaid over current GSM networks (as operated by Vodafone) and D-amps networks (the digital standard used by Telecom New Zealand), using the same cellsite positions. The company estimates that the system is about twice as efficient as current GSM cellular systems running in the 1800/1900MHz bands. However, wideband CDMA equipment will not be available until early 2001, when Ericsson will deliver its first system to Japanese carrier NTDoCoMo. Telecom New Zealand has signed a memorandum of understanding with NTDoCoMo to gather information from the WCDMA trial. When combined with another innovation known as Bluetooth, which Ericsson is working on with IBM, [ Toshiba ] , [ Intel ] and Nokia, WCDMA will enable much more connected mobile offices. Bluetooth, based around a chip that is also a radio transmitter, sets up small local area networks, known as picanets, between Bluetooth-powered equipment. This means devices such as notebook computers, cellular phones, printers and digital cameras can all connect without cumbersome cables. -------------------- (Copyright 1998) _____via IntellX_____ Publication Date: December 16, 1998 Powered by NewsReal's IndustryWatch ...back to top